


The Last Resort

by DuklyonRose



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, F/M, Humor, Light Angst, Past!Nejiten, Quarter-Life Crisis, Slow Burn, Swearing, mostly canon background relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:28:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25137700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuklyonRose/pseuds/DuklyonRose
Summary: "Don't look at me. I haven't gotten laid since last fall.”Tenten just wants to protect the peace in Konoha, and everyone around her is having babies. Plagued with the duty of filling in the gaps of Konoha's army while many of the elite begin to take family leave, she can't be bothered to even think about anything that could take away her focus on being a prime kunoichi. Of course, the universe has different plans, and tests her will against human desires with a certain puppet-wielding Sand shinobi, and a kohai with a crush.
Relationships: Kankurou/Tenten (Naruto), Tenten (Naruto)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 18





	1. Under the Cloudless Sky

It's not that she never thought about having her own family, it's that she truly believed that everyone, not just herself, was too young to do so. Sure her friends were getting married left and right, but that seemed like a relatively easy thing to commit to in comparison to bringing children into the world and raising them. Dating wasn't even on her activity radar yet alone the other steps to get to where Hinata was, blushing like mad as the other women at the table showered her in congratulations. The weekly kunoichi brunch rarely had such exciting news, mostly just life updates now that everyone was settled.

Tenten hardly had a moment to process the shy announcement when she noticed Sakura squirming in her seat. The rose haired woman sputtered out her well wishes followed by an apology, and revealed that she was pregnant as well. She apologized again to Hinata, who was unsurprisingly relieved to have the attention diffused.

Temari, Ino, and Tenten stared at each other a bit slack-jawed before turning back to the glowing women on the other side of the booth. Tenten was again too slow to express her blessings, and was interrupted by the snickering of the two blonde women next to her. Hinata and Sakura looked at them curiously, trying to figure out the strange reaction.

Her mouth went dry and she blamed the long lasting dry spell Konoha was experiencing (and definitely not an existential crisis) as Temari and Ino explained that they dropped by the Akimichi residence to bring Karui, but she was too affected with morning sickness to join in. Gasps were heard around the table, and Ino added in that she and Sai have been trying to get pregnant for the past few months. Even Temari coyly mentioned that Shikamaru told her it wouldn't be the most bothersome thing if they skipped the birth control. Tenten internally gagged at the thought of her friends and their husbands doing the do, but let her face bear a more respectable look.

All of the other women found themselves quite aflutter with the shocking announcements. They chatted about gender preferences, name ideas, how Sakura and Hinata planned on telling Sasuke and Naruto, setting up future playdates, and pondering if their kids would become shinobi.

Tenten smiled for them, but felt like she couldn't add anything to the conversation. She pinched her own thigh under the table to remind herself she was actually there despite feeling so distant from her friends. They all looked so happy and excited about motherhood, and yet she only felt the slimy fingers of fear squeezing her insides when she thought of birthing a child. She desperately wanted to ask them why they weren't scared, but held it in to not spoil the celebratory atmosphere. She sipped her tea simply to have something to do with her hands and mouth.

Despite being in deep thought and anxiety, she could feel multiple sets of eyes on her. She peered over her cup to see her friends staring at her, waiting for her to contribute something. Her brown eyes widened a bit and blinked blankly at her friends' odd stares that anticipated there was even the slightest chance she bore news in nature to their own.

"Don't look at me. I haven't gotten laid since last fall," she said as she put down her cup and cocked a brow at them. Too many people, in her opinion, were genuinely concerned about her relationship status. As far as she knew, she was young and still had plenty of time - that was until every one of her female friends announced they were making babies.

"Last fall? You didn't tell us about that," Ino pried with a smirk.

Tenten clenched her jaw nervously, not really being the kind of person to disclose details of her sex life, even to her closest friends. However, it was preferable to a bombardment of more uncomfortable inquiries about her progress on biology and society's timelines.

"Just a little fling as a result of me roughing up some guy in the Land of Tea," she said with hands raised defensively.

"Roughing up some guy?" Temari repeated with an eyebrow wiggle.

"On a mission?" Even Hinata was hooked on the rare piece of Tenten gossip.

"You slept with an enemy?" A few of the patrons at nearby tables turned their heads at Sakura's exclamation.

"Yes, sort of, and no," the famed weapons mistress grumbled out. "Just a guy who wouldn't give me the answers I knew he had. He was only a connection to the real enemy, and when the mission was over, he showed up at my room to tell me he liked it when I slapped him across the face."

"Shut up!"

"No way!"

"You did not!"

Tenten couldn't help but to let out a little laugh. The other girls all married their first loves and never got to experience the wild uncertainty of the dating and hookup scene. However they envied her only as much as she envied them, just a little before realizing that they were on the side of the coin they were meant to be on.

"And then what?" Hinata asked.

"And then I tied him up and roughed him up some more, left early in the morning to head back here, and will never see or hear from him again," Tenten finished with a shrug.

The other womens' eyes were wide with mouths trying to hold back some incredulous laughs.

"And you enjoyed that?" Sakura questioned with doubt permeating her tone.

"I give it a 6.5 out of 10. I'd probably do it again, preferably with someone different," Tenten replied without having to give it much thought.

The girls all exchanged somewhat worried glances that Tenten was well aware of. They all had their attempts at setting her up with relationship-material men and suggesting she'd find peace in settling down, but they also knew not to push too far. She rolled her eyes and let out a playful huff.

"This is my way of life! You know that already," she assured them. "But why are we only talking about me? You're all on your way to being mothers! I can't wait to be an aunt!"

Her bright smile put everyone back at ease. Despite the initial shock, she truly was happy and excited for her friends. Before she knew it, she was joining them coming up with elaborate schemes to surprise Naruto and Sasuke, debating unfounded medical advice of best positions to do it in for fertilization, and what the new Ino-Shika-Cho generation will be named.

"Inosuke, Shikami, Chotaro," Tenten said with a satisfied nod.

"No way! Ino is definitely having a girl," Sakura declared. "I say Inoko, Shikazen, Chomatsu."

"Having to raise a girl with me and Sai's level of sass? We'll get destroyed in the teen years. Temari is gonna have a girl so Shikamaru can continue to choke on his adolescent views of women," Ino said teasingly.

"I wouldn't mind that," the former Sand kunoichi agreed with a laugh, "but the Akimichi side is going to have a girl solely for the fact that Choji would be absolutely adorable with a daughter."

The other women felt their hearts clench and cheeks warm at the image of the village's unanimously recognized sweetest man with a daughter. Temari was one hundred percent correct, and they hummed in blissful acknowledgement.

"Beside, growing up with Gaara and Kankuro for younger brothers - it's like the universe has been preparing me to deal with boys," she reasoned. "Speaking of whom, I have to get back home soon. Kankuro is coming in later for that meeting about Tanigakure."

Tenten noticed the subtle glance Temari threw her way, and figured it was because she had taken to training with her brother a few times in the past. Both of them always had something to learn from observing each other's fighting styles, making her wonder if he mentioned wanting to spar with her again. It had been a while since she had a training partner other than Lee. Her blood raced at the idea of working with someone who could challenge her, but also knew when and how to take a break.

"I don't like the rumors I've been hearing about that place," Hinata said as she nervously touched her stomach. "I saw Shino after his reconnaissance mission a few days ago. He told me we might be in for a big conflict."

"We have a handful of the world's strongest and smartest shinobi in our village; we'll crush it before it even becomes a problem," Tenten almost seemed to sigh. She would never say it out loud, but she thought that the world was a little too peaceful - not that she'd ever wish for another war, not after everything she and those around her lost. However, the time between missions that were worthy of her jonin status was increasing steadily along with the need to keep her body and mind busy.

"I dunno, without us ladies on the front line, the village is doomed," Temari rebutted only half-jokingly.

"Not to mention potential trouble on the home turf. Sakura plus pregnancy hormones is a big enough threat on her own. The Kyuubi attack will look like a C-rank mission if someone pisses her off," Ino teased, earning a playful glare from her bestie.

"Well," Tenten said as she stood up and straightened her white bell-sleeved top, "it looks like I better get to training. I'll kick ass on behalf of all of us!"

* * *

It was horrendously hot despite the sun having yet to reach its peak high position. Tenten cursed herself for ditching her sleeveless qipao for a more modest look that paid tribute to her pre-war chunin days as well as her late teammate. She liked to think that the long sleeves were protecting her against the harsh rays, but instead she picked at the parts clinging to her sweat-covered rib cage, and wondered how Neji survived wearing a similar garment when they traveled to Suna in their teens.

Even four years after his sacrifice, she thought of her old friend through casual and fond memories. She never thought too long on what could have been for him and his future had he lived. It was pointless to do so and only made her sour if she dwelled on it. However, her friends' announcements at brunch had her mind rolling about where her life was headed in contrast to everyone else. She always found it difficult not to compare herself to her female friends when it came to just about everything: strength, skill, beauty, and now overall femininity. No matter what, she felt like she was on the verge of falling behind.

With a deep, calming breath through her nose, she did her best to release the anxiety and move on to the next train of thought. She remembered her other friends - male friends that weren't married to her girl friends. As far as she knew, Kiba and Shino were both single, Temari had talked about some bullshit Suna politics that pressured both Gaara and Kankuro into considering marriage that neither of them seemed to pay any mind to, and she nearly laughed out loud to herself at the idea of Lee finding a girlfriend yet alone having a kid. It made her feel a little less shitty, but it couldn't stop another thought from creeping into her mind.

At first it made her want to laugh even more than the thought of a domestic Lee. If Neji were alive, he would've been even worse off than any of the previously mentioned men in terms of a love life. He was unarguably handsome, however the man was about as flirtatious as a brick wall. He never so much as reacted when girls would come on to him, and was often so stiff of a person that Tenten wondered if he even had a single hormone in his body. Despite her observations, and maybe it was because he was dead and nobody would ever know what would have become of his life, the image of him gently looking down at a brown haired toddler sleeping in his arms started to construct in her mind's eye. It warmed her, but the warmth was unwelcome under the wrath of Konoha's summer sun. She huffed, feeling irritated that she couldn't stop herself from forming such thoughts, and only felt more frustrated as the image became clearer.

_"-chou!"_

Imaginary Neji lifted his opalescent eyes as he looked at her like all the times she could remember. His mouth opened ever so slightly as if to say something, but before she could imagine his words, she felt a hand on her shoulder that jerked her back in to reality.

_"Taichou!"_

She whipped her head around and felt herself nearly stumble back when she realized who had been calling out to her. He wasn't much taller than her, and his eyes were a vivid shade of green. His dark brown hair was cut neatly at his shoulders, and yet regardless of the differences, Hyuuga Nagisa bore a striking resemblance to his distant cousin.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized with sincerity.

"No need to apologize. I shouldn't be allowing people to sneak up on me," she said as she quickly regained her composure. She wasn't about to let the young man before her have any suspicion that she was having some weird delusion about his late family member just seconds before.

"I saw you walking really fast and then you just stopped. Is everything okay, taichou?"

"I'm fine, just ate a bit too much at brunch is all. And we're not on a mission, there's no need to call me taichou," she said with a casual wave of the hand. She lead a mission with him on her team a few months back. He wasn't as skilled as her former teammate (no one ever would be in her humble opinion), but she knew how to best utilize his abilities within the team for a successful operation. "You can just call me Tenten."

"Just call you- I can't do that," he fumbled nervously. Tenten mentally rolled her eyes at the over-polite way of speaking they were taught in prestigious clans. It took years for her to convince Hinata to drop the "-san" from her name.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged and started walking again.

"Wait!" He called out and rushed to her side. Despite his request, she kept walking, but gave him an acknowledging glance as he fell into stride next to her. "Um- What are you planning on doing for the rest of the day, senpai?"

She felt her insides cringe at the title, even more so than being referred to as "taichou," but decided to let it slide. After all, Nagisa was a chunin and about 2 years younger than her, though she hardly considered herself a mentor-like figure to him. He was simply someone she worked with once and would see at meetings every now and then.

"I'm going to the training grounds near the main gate. I need to build my stamina and endurance," she answered. She had more than the average shinobi, but she was comparing herself to the likes of Lee and Gai instead.

"I need to train in those areas as well. Can I trouble you to join you? I'll do my best not to hold you back," he insisted earnestly. His modesty made Tenten smile a bit. He might have looked like Neji, but he acted a lot more humble.

In truth, she would have to cut down her pace and intensity considerably in order for her to not have to lug a passed out body to the hospital at the end of the day. However, as the wretched summer sun and cloudless sky beat down on her forehead, she took the offer as a sign that maybe it would be best for her to take it easy.

"Okay," she accepted. "Just make sure you stay hydrated."

"Don't worry. I'm equipped," he assured and pointed to the small scroll on his wrist, reminiscent of the larger ones she used to wear.

Her eyes flickered in surprise, but she didn't have a moment to feel flattered that he would take fuinjutsu and style notes from working with her once. Her sight settled on the familiar main gate to the village and the slightly disturbing beings that were halted there.

"Oh kami-sama," Nagisa croaked out. Tenten turned her head toward him to see that his face had gone pale in fear. She could hardly blame him for being perturbed. Ahead of them were three enormous rhinoceros beetles, each one easily over 7 feet tall with individual riders on their backs. There was one unmistakable feline-esque silhouette that stood out to her as she made her way forward with Nagisa tentatively in tow.

"Oi! Dango-head! Help us out!" The rider yelled out and waved an arm in the air.

"Ugh," Tenten groaned. She had half a mind to just ignore him and make the turn for the training grounds instead, but she remembered Temari at brunch and opted for diplomacy.

"Do you know them?" Nagisa asked.

She simply grunted in response. She had been excited earlier at the thought of training with the person at the gate, but forgotten he was Naruto-levels of annoying until he yelled "dango-head" at her.

She continued forward, though Nagisa halted to keep his distance from the terrifying beetles. She saw Kotetsu and Izumo standing with their arms crossed and unwavering despite the repulsion in their expressions.

"We know who you are, but we can't just let you into our village on those _things_ ," Izumo said firmly.

"I take great offense to that!" Tenten felt her heart jump at the voice that came out of the beetle in the center. "We are part of the great Dynastinae family and won't be referred to as _things_."

"M-My apologies, but your presence will cause distress to the villagers," Kotetsu reasoned as sweat started dripping down the side of his forehead.

"They're thirsty from carrying us across the desert. If we could just take them to the river," a man on the beetle to the left said.

"Can't you just re-summon them when you get there?" Izumo argued.

"I don't have that kind of chakra right now," the unknown man retorted, growing obviously frustrated.

"Allow me," Tenten spoke up as she came up behind Kotetsu and Izumo, who parted ways for her. She clapped her hands together, performed several hand seals, and when she parted them, a steady flow of water started pouring from her right palm.

"Damn, when did you learn water transformation?"

She looked up to see the man on the center beetle sliding off to address her. His hooded yet distinctive painted face seemed genuinely impressed. She huffed out her nose, not wanting to be too friendly to the person who made fun of her signature hairstyle.

"I didn't. It's a seal," she answered as she did her best not to make eye contact with him, and instead approached the beetle he was just on, offering her flowing hand. "Here, it's fresh. The connector is in the river."

"Very clever, girl. My brothers and I thank you," the beetle praised in a baritone that resonated through her body. "Hadomatsu, Hadohito, you both go ahead of me."

"Thank you," the other two beetles said in unison as they moved toward her. Their riders, a burly blond man and a short silver haired girl, slipped off their backs to join their leader on the ground.

Tenten giggled as the velvety hairs surrounding their mouths tickled her wrists. They looked terrifying from a distance, but up close she found them to be almost kind of cute.

"You changed your look."

She shifted her gaze back to painted man dressed in all black. She glared at him, waiting for him to dare to tease her.

"What of it?" She retorted cautiously.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "I like it."

Her face scrunched up slightly. His compliment was somehow more offensive to her than the insult she had been expecting.

"I mean, the dress was way hotter-"

"Kankuro-dono!" The girl behind him scolded, but was most likely literally drowned out by the fire hose of water coming out of Tenten's left palm, knocking back the man in black.

"Senpai!" Nagisa called out, who finally found the courage to approach the scene more closely.

"And that one's source is at the bottom of a waterfall!" Tenten growled as she deactivated the seal and it disappeared from her palm.

"Damn, I was just gonna say that this look suits you more, but thanks for the cool off," he said in a snarky tone. Somehow, his face paint managed to stay in tact after the blast.

"Senpai, do you know these people?" Nagisa questioned as he eyed everyone on the scene with suspicion.

Tenten took a calming breath before addressing the young man behind her. She turned around with a smile so sweet yet oozed with contempt.

"Nagisa, this is Suna no Tawagoto," she said without breaking her carefree smile. The burly blond man and silver haired girl started howling with laughter, while Kotetsu and Izumo stared slack-jawed at their fellow leaf nin.

"Err," Nagisa stuttered awkwardly, apprehensive to believe that the soaking wet man was known as "The Shithead of the Sand."

"Only on my days off, otherwise it's Kurosuna no Kankuro to you, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord this has been a WIP for so long where I only had the brunch scene written. Today I buckled down and finished the rest, so I apologize if it seems rushed. I have not seen or read Naruto in like 8 years so please forgive me if I get any of the ninja magic wrong. Ya girl had to do so much research, which is why it took so long to complete. I'm incredibly bad with updates, so another apology in advance. I do have most of the major plot points as well as an ending planned out. I just pray that I have the will to actually see it through. 
> 
> I did my best with the OCs. I'm terrible at coming up with them and I usually try to avoid using OCs, but they felt necessary for this story. 
> 
> The rating of this fic might change to E depending on how far I feel like going with some possible smut later on. 
> 
> This is a Kankuten fic. I remember it being a popular crack pairing in the Deviant Art days, but I never really bought into because of my love for Nejiten. However, now that I'm older, I've given the pair a lot of thought and they truly are well suited for one another, and I really look forward to fleshing out the dynamic I see in my head.
> 
> This note is very long, but I just want to say that I love Tenten. She has been my fave for nearly 15 years and I want her to be developed and happy.


	2. Bitter Humidity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konoha sure knows how to throw a welcome party.

"Holy fucking hell!"

Her brother was right. As soon as they were out of the desert and could see the walls of Konohagakure, it was like they entered hell. The desert had been hot and dry like they were used to, but a different kind of heat seemingly smacked them in the face once they entered the forest surrounding the village. In her 18 years, Yorui had never ventured outside of her own village and she decided as soon as her short silver strands started sticking to her sweat-coated cheeks that she hated it. 

"We're almost there. We got here in record time thanks to these guys," their leader praised as he patted the gigantic rhino beetle he was seated on. 

"Watch the armor! Mokuma is the one who's going to have to polish off your sticky human handprints," the beetle, Hadoku, reprimanded. 

"Don't worry, first thing we're gonna do is head straight to the river once we're in the village. I happen to know a spot where all the women like to hang out," the hooded man in the middle said with a grin.

"Shouldn't we check-in with you sister and brother-in-law first? Beside that you told me not to be wooed by any 'slimy Konoha men.' I'd hate to think that you'd be the type to hold double standards, Kankuro-dono," Yorui replied flatly. The only man from Konoha she had ever seen was some weirdo in skin-tight spandex with a rather unstylish bowl-cut, so she had marked herself as unconcerned. 

"He's just bitter that his beloved nee-san was whisked away by a Konoha man," her brother, Mokuma, teased from the other side. 

"Plus there's not a woman in there that could tempt me to abandon my village," Kankuro added assuredly, making no attempt to deny the other man's jab. 

"So you just want to peep - how gross. I expected better from Kazekage-sama's brother," she commented. She revered Gaara for being refined and tactful, yet she was learning that his brother was rather unfiltered and carefree. 

"Don't let her fool you, Kankuro-dono. She likes women, too."

The reveal of her personal information made the short hairs on her neck stand up. She shot her brother a horrified looking glare. Had they not been in the presence of one of the most prominent shinobi in Sunagakure (as boorish as she found him), she would have leaped off Hadohito and strangled her older sibling without regret.

"And you should be getting the speech about not letting some Konoha man seduce you into defecting as well!" Since she couldn't throttle him, her next best plan of retaliation was to out him as well. However, she was robbed of feeling satisfaction when Kankuro had no reaction to the squabble. 

"I thought we were taking you kids for training and diplomacy," Hadoku grumbled with judgement seeping into his deep voice. 

"They're here for training," Kankuro said as he pointed a thumb at the shinobi on either side of him. "I'm here for diplomacy, and going on a date or two could be considered diplomatic."

Mokuma laughed out loud. "When was the last time you even had a date?" He mocked. 

"Hey, being my brother's hand is a demanding position that requires me to conduct myself as a gentleman. I can't be chasing girls at home, so I gotta do it when I'm out of the village," he reasoned with an unconcerned shrug. 

"I think what you're doing is the opposite of diplomacy," Yorui stated haughtily. 

"You'll understand when you see the person you'll be training under. She's a beautiful kunoichi who once saved my life - not my type, but maybe yours," he said and smiled.

She flushed at the thought, or maybe it was the wretched sun intensifying. She had heard tales of Haruno Sakura and her contributions to not only saving Kankuro, but Gaara as well. However, she was skeptical to buy into the hype. A medical genius with super strength and beauty? Sounded like too perfect of a person to be real. 

"And from the gossip I've heard from Naruto and Kiba, your mentor is quite endowed," the painted man nudged toward Mokuma, making him nearly fall off Hadomatsu. 

"Stop! I'm already freaking out about meeting him," he wailed as he ducked his chin to his chest. It was disturbing to her to see her bulky older brother acting like an academy girl with an idolizing crush. 

"Well you don't have to anticipate much longer. Look alive, boys. We're here."

She was going to snarkily mention that she was not a boy, but noticed two figures taking defensive stances ahead of them at the gates. It wasn't the warm welcome she had been expecting, but she reasoned that she would've done the same if she spotted three massive beetles with twelve-inch horns on their heads approaching her home.

"Halt! State your names and business," ordered the shinobi on the left with wild dark hair and a wrap bandage across the bridge of his nose. 

"Kurosuna no Kankuro traveling with Hatanaka Mokuma and Hatanaka Yorui. We're here on behalf of the Kazekage," Kankuro replied, making no to move to the ground to put them at ease. 

"We've been expecting you. However, we have to ask that you dismount and seal your summons," said the other man with brown hair and soul patch, who wore a bandana style hitai-ate. 

Hadoku huffed as Hadomatsu and Hadohito stepped forward to stand in line with their brother. The two gatekeepers stepped back, but kept their eyes focused on the beasts and their riders. Yorui couldn't blame them for being on edge. She was not a fan of her brother's bug collecting when growing up, and she was well into her teens before she could even approach the familiars without wanting to cry. 

"We've traveled all this way and are not welcomed?" Hadoku spoke, giving the two men on the ground quite a fright. 

"We weren't informed of your presence," the darker haired shinobi said warily. 

"Do you think my brother would send us here to break the peace between our villages?" Kankuro questioned. Yorui had to admit that as insouciant as he acted around her and her brother, he could be incredibly intimidating when he wanted to be. 

"Of course not but-"

"But what? They'll be out and about in a few days anyway. He's going to be training with Aburame Shino," he argued as he pointed a thumb to Mokuma, who waved nervously. 

"There are certain protocols. Once we process some paperwork-" 

Kankuro's groan cut off the bandaged man's sentence. Yorui felt his frustration at the bureaucracy, but wished he'd be a little more compliant. This was her and her brother's first time to Konoha and she didn't want to be labeled as a troublemaker right off the bat. 

"I'm sorry, but that's just the way-"

"OI! DANGO-HEAD! HELP US OUT HERE!" 

The silver haired girl cringed at the loud yell coming from her leader. She would have thought that he was acting like a fool, but she noticed two people not too far behind the guards, one of which happened to be wearing their hair in twin buns that resembled the sweet street snack. 

"Who are you yelling at?" The man in with the face bandage asked with irritation dripping in his tone. He and his partner were trained well enough not to look behind them though. "Don't drag someone else into this. We know who you are, but we can't just let you into our village on those _things_." 

"I take great offense to that! We are part of the great Dynastinae family and won't be referred to as _things_ ," Hadoku's voice boomed as he tossed his head up proudly. 

"M-My apologies, but your presence will cause distress to the villagers," the bandage-face man reasoned defensively. 

"They're thirsty from carrying us across the desert. If we could just take them to the river," Mokuma chimed in, hoping his friendlier looking face would bring ease to the situation. 

"Can't you just resummon them when you get there?" The lighter haired shinobi argued. 

Yorui was starting to grow more nervous as the tension began to rise. Things certainly weren't going the way she thought they would. As she felt sweat starting to soak the back of her shirt, she imagined the Nara clan's quarters hidden under the shade to suit their jutsu and Temari creating a cool breeze with her famed fan. She didn't know much about the family they'd be staying with, just briefs from her brother and Kankuro, but the fantasy made her all the more eager to just get into the damn village. 

"I don't have that kind of chakra right now," Mokuma replied. He was still smiling politely, but she could hear the courtesy beginning to crack in his voice. 

"Allow me."

Everyone took their turns noticing that the person Kankuro had called out to earlier had finally stepped up to the scene: a woman with brown hair twisted up in twin buns with the excess length braided and hanging just below her shoulders. She had sharp yet trustworthy coffee-colored eyes lined with long lashes that laughed in the face the budding make-up industry. Her skin was tanned, but not enough to hide the heatwave-induced flush on her high cheekbones. She was quite pretty, however Yorui was distracted more by the shine of her earrings with gold wire tassels dangling from their teardrop shape. 

Whoever she was, the two guards seemed to respect her enough to let her walk past them and stand in front of Hadoku. If she was put off at all by the gigantic insects, it didn't show. Everyone watched closely as she went through a few hand seals, clapped her hands together, and pulled them apart to reveal water flowing gently out of her right palm. Yorui saw Kankuro smile and slide off the back of the giant beetle, so she shifted in her seat to do the same. 

"Damn, when did you learn water transformation?" He marveled. Judging by his question, Yorui was relieved that the woman was someone he actually knew, and not just some poor stranger he roped into their situation by calling out "dango-head." 

"I didn't. It's a seal," she answered coldly. Whatever their relationship was, she didn't seem too ecstatic to help him out. 

"Here, it's fresh. The connector is in the river," she offered as she walked right up to Hadoku without any hesitation and offered the water flowing from her hand. Yorui glanced over to her brother, and almost rolled her eyes when she saw his irises had practically blown up into hearts at the sight.

"Very clever, girl. My brothers and I thank you. Hadomatsu, Hadohito, you both go ahead of me," Hadoku said respectfully. 

The silver-haired girl slid off the back of Hadohito and stepped toward Mokuma, who was peeling away the linen of his pants that had stuck to the back of his legs from the long, hellish ride. 

"Don't go falling for the first person you see in the village," she lectured in a hushed voice. 

"Psh," he scoffed. "You were totally checking her out too." 

She smacked her brother playfully on the arm and walked past him to join their leader. She wasn't checking out the woman so much as she was simply admiring her style, she reasoned. 

"You changed your look," she heard Kankuro remark. Maybe they were friends? 

"What of it?" The woman with the earrings grumbled as Yorui peaked around the side of Hadomatsu's head. She wore a white long sleeve top that covered her neck and was closed together with gold frog ties. It was tucked into red baggy pants with cut outs at the hip, but her skin hidden by the excess length of the top. 

"Nothing. I like it," he stated with a simple shrug. 

Mokuma popped up behind his sister and snickered. "Is that his attempt at flirting?" 

She shushed him and kept her focus on Kankuro failing to get the woman's full attention. It was cringe-inducing yet captivating for her to witness, and would prove to be even more so when he opened his mouth to continue. 

"I mean, the dress was way hotter-" 

"Kankuro-dono!" Yorui's face blanched in horror at his awful manners as she jumped out to scold him. However, she realized her chastisement was needless when she saw him fly back under the force of a jet stream of water coming from the bun-haired woman's other hand. 

"And that one's source is at the bottom of a waterfall!" She barked after she deactivated the seals. The giant beetles nodded their heads in thanks to her and took a step back. 

Yorui would have taken the time been impressed with the woman's quick action, but she was distracted by another person approaching them. Come to think of it, she thought she heard someone else yell out when she did. 

"Damn, I was just gonna say that this look suits you more, but thanks for the cool off," Kankuro grunted as Mokuma helped him back on his feet. 

"Senpai, do you know these people?" Asked the newcomer as he looked at the bun-haired woman with concern. His dark brown hair was cut bluntly at the shoulder in a traditional style that signified upper class. He eyed the Suna-nin warily with eyes that came in an intense shade of green. He was quite possibly one of the most beautiful men Yorui had ever laid eyes on without being too effeminate. She particularly liked the shape of his nose and how it balanced well with the sharpness of his jawline. 

"Nagisa, this is Suna no Tawagoto," the woman with the earrings turned to the young man and answered with an unsettling smile. 

Yorui felt her lips sputter in a vain attempt to hold back an eruption of laughter while Mokuma outright screamed a long "HAAAAA!" before falling into a fit of giggles. 

"Only on my days off, otherwise it's Kurosuna no Kankuro to you, kid," he said as he cocked his head back and gave a toothy smirk. 

"Stop trying to act cool," Yorui managed to wheezed out.

"Yeah Suna no Tawagoto, when are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Mokuma teased and wiped away the tears that formed from laughing so hard. 

"I'm your superior, mind you," he reminded gruffly, but the siblings hardly felt threatened.

"Friend?" The woman questioned with unamused eyes. "I'm Tenten, this is Hyuuga Nagisa, and the two guys you were giving a hard time are Kotetsu and Izumo."

"Sorry," Yorui stepped forward and said with a respectful bow as she finally found her composure. From a closer view, she noticed that the woman was good deal taller than her. She also eyed the pretty guy, but he was too distracted by the beetles behind them. "I'm Hatanaka Yorui, and this is my brother, Mokuma. It's our first time visiting Konohagakure." 

They all nodded in acknowledgement. It still wasn't a warm and welcoming atmosphere, but at least the tension from before had been cut. 

"Well, if you don't mind, can we move on?" The man in the bandana, Izumo said, reasonably over the whole ordeal. 

"Of course," Mokuma agreed and turned to give Hadoku a nod before releasing the summons back to their place of origin. The two guards instantly relaxed when they disappeared in cloud of smoke. They walked back to their post, but were heard muttering about how they should have retired after the war.

"Well, I'm off to train. Let's go, Nagisa," Tenten said as she started to walk off without so much as a goodbye. Yorui would've thought her to be rude, but given that she helped them out and dealt with Kankuro's tactlessness, she couldn't find it in her to be upset. 

"Yes, senpai," Nagisa replied. His attentiveness to the woman was annoying to watch. 

"Hold up," Kankuro interjected before they could get too far away. "You're not going to give us the welcome tour? How undiplomatic."

The pair stopped. Tenten turned around, looked him dead in the eye and said, "You've been here before."

"Well then, you could at least let us sit in on your training. Show these guys how you do it in Konoha," he said as gestured to Yorui and Mokuma. The silver-haired girl flushed in embarrassment at being used as an excuse for him to impose. She stood perfectly still while her brother flashed a lopsided smile.

"I was just planning on running and doing some drills - not much to observe really. Besides, I'm sure Temari is waiting for you," she shrugged. She spoke the truth, but it was clear that she was trying to shake him off. 

"No sparring? I would've liked to see some new moves from you, but I guess you have nothing to report on," Kankuro prodded with a shit-eating smirk that crept up the side of his painted cheek. 

Yorui rolled her eyes at the man's childish technique. The brown-haired woman was too collected to be affected by his obvious provocation, or so she thought.

"Nagisa, would you like to work on your kaiten?" Tenten asked in a kind voice, but didn't break her eye contact with Kankuro. 

"Of course," the green-eyed man agreed as all of his perfect facial features lit up. She wondered what was so special about this "kaiten" that got him looking so excited. 

They started walking again. The glimmer of Tenten's earrings caught the sunlight as she gave a glance back, and Kankuro let out a victorious huff. 

"Come on, guys. You get to watch a bukijutsu master take on someone from this village's most prestigious clan," he enthused and began to tag along their trail. 

Yorui sighed and followed a few steps behind. Her fantasy of relaxing on a shady porch at the Nara compound was slipping further away as she followed her eager leader. As excited as she was to learn as much as she could during the visit, all she wanted in the moment was a way to combat the sticky heat. 

"Hey sis, you think he's trying to get back with his ex-girlfriend?" Mokuma asked in a low voice as he fell into her pace. 

"I highly doubt that," she said, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she became uncertain. She rarely heard Kankuro praise anyone's skills aside from his siblings. 

"They've definitely hooked up," he theorized. The idea was gross to her. The woman in question seemed cool, which contrasted unflatteringly with Yorui's perception of her leader being socially ungraceful. She did have to admit, however, that on paper Kankuro would be a good prospect for any woman: in a position of power, a highly skilled shinobi, manly, and held high esteem for those he cared about. 

"Ew, no way!" She responded reflexively. 

"You're just jealous of Kankuro-dono," he badgered.

"Like hell!" She yelled back with a scowl so deep, it made the corner of her lip twitch. 

"Whatever you say," he shrugged as he winced away from her outburst. "Whaddya say we janken and whoever wins gets their choice in who to go after: the pretty lady or that fancy looking guy?"

"Stop!" She demanded as she turned completely red and smacked him repeatedly on the bicep that felt more like she was hitting a tree. 

"Suit yourself. I know who I'd pick," he teased with a wink. She wasn't sure she knew his choice. He liked men more than women, but he seemed enthralled when Tenten was hand-serving his beetles water. 

"You're just as bad as Kankuro-dono," she shot back. 

"You mean Suna no Tawagoto," he joked as laughter poured out of his mouth as soon as the words left. 

Yorui couldn't help but to join in the chuckle fest. She quickly regained herself, though, when Kankuro stopped ahead of them and she noticed the nice grassy clearing surrounded by trees. She assumed it was the training area, though the ones she was used to were nothing but sand and rocks. 

Tenten and Nagisa were stretching a few yards away - Tenten showed off her flexibility with some backbreaking poses while Nagisa tried his best to mimic her with modified forms. Kankuro chose one of the many sturdy trees to lean against underneath the shade. Yorui and Mokuma moved to his area and took the opportunity to take a seat and chug some water from their packs. 

"So what are we doing here exactly?" Yorui questioned as she wiped some excess water that had dribbled down her chin. Before they left Suna, the plan was to get into the village, stop by the Nara residence to be shown where they'd be staying, and then visit the Hokage's office if it wasn't too late. It made her anxious that they were making people wait on them. 

"It's always to your advantage to learn from as many different styles as you can and incorporate them into your own style, as well as spotting the weaknesses for when you face opponents like them," Kankuro answered. He was one of Suna's top jonin for a reason she supposed. 

"Or you just want to check her out," Mokuma jabbed as he thrust his chin in Tenten's direction. 

"I spent as many chances as I could in the past to watch her train, as well as her old teammates and sensei: all masters when it comes to close-range combat. Most of the moves I use with my puppets are based off of what I learned from watching them," he said, ignoring the younger man's teasing. 

Yorui nodded her head, impressed with her leader's insightfulness. As much as she and her brother liked to poke fun at him, they know he was a formidable shinobi capable of taking out entire armies on his own. She turned her attention back to Tenten and Nagisa in the field, eager to observe under Kankuro's advice. 

And observe she did. Her eyes grew wide and mouth fell slightly open when she saw Tenten remove her modest white top to reveal what was underneath. Despite being out of the sun, heat found itself crawling up her neck as her eyes struggled to find a spot to focus on. What was revealed was a mockneck halter style black bodysuit that left her back completely bare, and a hand-sized diamond-shaped cutout in the middle of her chest. Her lithe yet toned upper body was on complete display, but the most captivating detail was the two giant dragon tattoos incorporated with an assortment of symbols and scripts that covered nearly every inch of exposed skin, including the sides of her hips that could be seen from the cutouts in her red pants. 

"I take it back," Kankuro muttered. 

Yorui wasn't sure what he was talking about, but bobbed her head dumbly along with her brother, who had nearly spat out the water he was drinking. All three of them continued to watch silently as Tenten and Nagisa took their stances. She was transfixed on the way the dragons' tails were wrapped around the taller woman's arms all the way to her wrists, yet she couldn't help but to sneak a glance at her opponent. Nagisa's bright green eyes had faded into a milky mint, his pupils became nearly invisible, and the blood vessels surrounding the sockets were engorged. A momentary panic swept her that had her thinking he had suddenly suffered some kind of eye trauma.

"What the hell is going on with his eyes?" Mokuma asked, looking slightly horrified at the drastic change. 

"That is the Byakugan, a dojutsu kekkai genkai that belongs to this village's Hyuuga clan," Kankuro explained. "I'm not too keen on the details, but when fully awakened, it opens their field of vision to 360 degrees and allows them to see chakra networks within their opponent's body."

"It what?" Mokuma croaked out in disbelief.

A wave of envy passed over Yorui. What she wouldn't give to have such an ability as a medic. Some people were just born lucky she mused bitterly. 

With an even more critical eye, she watched as he dodged the five kunais Tenten had thrown at him. The tattooed woman pulled the kunais back with chakra strings and swung them back in his direction. Senbon needles appeared between her fingers on both hands and were quickly released in Nagisa's direction. He jumped away again, and took a low stance with one arm extended in front and the other straight behind him. 

"Where are the weapons coming from?" Mokuma wondered out loud to no one in particular. His eyes were scrunched up in scrutiny of the scene. 

Yorui almost brushed the comment off as stupid, but stopped herself from making a sassy reply when she noticed that Tenten didn't wear a pouch on her backside or even have one strapped to her leg like every shinobi who knew what was good for them. Strange, she thought, but figured that the woman most likely kept them hidden in her hair and also had a secret pocket in her pants. 

The bun haired woman leapt high into the air and almost seemed to float as she moved her hands in front of her with her fingers spread wide. The small ninja tools scattered about the ground were lifted up by the chakra strings she was controlling, and were sent flying towards Nagisa in his ready stance. 

Yorui quietly bit the inside of her cheek in anticipation. Even with 360 degree vision, she imagined it was daunting to have a dozen sharp points coming toward you at different angles. She had nothing to worry about, however. In the blink of an eye, he was spinning rapidly until he was hidden in a dome of blue chakra that repelled each weapon that came in contact with it. 

"Wow," she whispered as her face relaxed. Another bout of envy seeped into her mind, but she felt more humble than jealous. 

"Again!" Tenten yelled just as her opponent came to a halt. 

It was obvious from his heavy breathing that the move had taken a chunk of his chakra, but he gulped and nodded his head determinedly. Tenten once again took to the air with a graceful leap, but seemed to go even higher this time. She was but a silhouette against the bright sun, and those on the ground could hardly bear to look in her direction. But soon enough, the light was blocked out by a cloud - an ominous glimmering cloud that had Yorui's irises shrunken in fear when she realized that it was made up of hundreds of weapons. Kamas, sais, shurikens of all sizes, triple-pointed kunais, tantos - anything with a sharp point or blade were present in the dozens and hovered for a daunting moment before they came raining down from the sky.

"Is she-" Yorui sputtered as she had trouble moving her mouth to get the right words to come out. 

"WHERE THE FUCK DID THOSE COME FROM?" Mokuma reiterated with more panic and bewilderment. 

The siblings hardly had a moment to see the arsenal hail down towards Nagisa's rotating form and process that the myriad of weapons would be flung in all directions without discretion. Yorui felt her body being jerked back against her will. A rogue wakizashi barely missed her toes as she and her brother were pulled up into the trees by a mysterious force. They both landed on a sturdy branch and looked behind them to see Kankuro standing a tree away with chakra strings in each hand. 

"Should be safe now. Watch your step though," he warned as he released the strings and hopped down to the ground.

Mokuma followed their leader's action while Yorui took a moment to try and slow her racing heart. She had been certain merely moments before that her limbs were going to be skewered. Between the heat, the unfriendly welcome, and narrowly missing impalement, she was genuinely starting to hate Konoha and wished she had just stayed home. Tentatively, she jumped and landed in the grass a few trees back from the open field. Even from far back, she could see hundreds of weapons strewn about that looked more and more like a bodyless war-torn battlefield the closer she got. 

Nagisa stood with a noticable hunch, not a single weapon within a 2-foot radius of him except for a single senbon lodged just a little to the right of his spine beneath his neck. If it had landed any closer to the center, he would have ended up immobile. Tenten looked as though she had just finished a warm up as she leaned her head to the side to give it a stretch. 

"Alright, one more time," she said without so much as a huff. 

Yorui fought the urge to say ' _no_ ' on the young man's behalf. His breath was ragged and sweat drenched the entire back of his grey tunic. He wobbled a bit in his stance, but reached back and plucked the senbon out. Her faced perked up in surprise when she saw his hand glow green as he took a few seconds to heal the wound. Still, she thought it was reckless to try the move again. 

"Ok," he agreed. "I'm ready."

"Good," Tenten said as a satisfied smile grew on her face. "I'm going to try a different approach. Let's see if you can defend against this."

Yorui had witnessed a lot of absurd abilities in her five years as a full fledged kunoichi, and to be fair, what she saw was not all that crazy of a concept, she had just never seen it before. She looked over at her brother and Kankuro, whose faces subtly said that they had never seen it either. Tenten had placed a hand over the cutout between her breasts and slowly pulled out a chokuto with a wooden hilt. Once the blade was entirely unsheathed from her body, it flashed with a coating of blue chakra. 

' _Wind_ ,' Yorui noted amid the surprise. 

Tenten twirled the sword around once before taking a forward stance and charged at Nagisa. 

"She's gonna slice that beautiful boy to bits," Mokuma whimpered with a grimace. 

Yorui couldn't bear to watch. She felt ashamed that she clenched her eyes shut, but Nagisa had been clearly low on chakra and stamina. There wasn't a chance that Tenten's chakra blade wouldn't break through a weakened barrier. She took a stabilizing breath to prepare herself to perform medical jutsu on the fly. 

Just as she was about to open her eyes, she heard the clash of metal on metal, and sensed something heavy land at her side.

"Oh, thank kami-sama," her brother sighed and leaned back against one of the trees. 

She opened her eyes and saw that Kankuro had replaced Nagisa on the field. Karasu was out and was blocking Tenten's sword with two smaller blades coming out of its hands that were layered with Kankuro's earth natured chakra. Nagisa had been flung out of the way by one of Kankuro's chakra strings, and sat confused and frowning on her right. 

"Are you trying to kill your kohai?" The Suna jonin asked. There wasn't any judgement in his tone, but Yorui thought it would've been well deserved if there was. 

"No?" Tenten replied with a scowl and refused to break their blades' contact. "Neji and I used to drill these 20 times a day when we were kids."

"I hate to break it to you, but that kid isn't your dead teammate," Kankuro said in a rare serious voice. 

"Tch," Tenten grunted as if the comment didn't affect her. Her eyes had narrowed ever so slightly at his words. Still, she lowered her blade and relaxed when she went to speak again. "Why did you really stop me?" 

"I want to use your body," he stated, making everyone at the scene contort their faces with shock and disgust from the boldness of the declaration. 

"What the- Absolutely the fuck not!" She yelled as her brown eyes were set ablaze with all the fury of an objectified human. She lifted her chokuto and moved around Karasu with speed that wasn't seen when she was training with Nagisa. 

"I mean as a human-puppet!" He reasoned as he scrambled to back up and maneuver Karasu between them. 

"You want to turn me into a puppet?" She grilled him with heavy suspicion in her voice while she relentlessly jumped around Karasu to try and get a strike on him. 

"Yes-I mean, no! Not like that! Let me explain!" Kankuro faltered. He dodged each of her swings that came close. She was just as quick as him though, and it was hard for him to gain the distance he needed. 

"Explain this!" She barked and unleashed a barrage of kunai at him that launched out of the side of her forearm. 

He quickly whipped a scrolled and summoned Sanshouo that managed to block the incoming kunais with its tail. With two puppets out, he was able to put some space between them. 

Yorui groaned at the stupid sparring match, and turned her attention to where it was really needed. Nagisa was watching the fight, but his skin was a worrisome shade of white covered in a layer of sweat. His head bobbed and swayed ever so slightly as he tried his best to concentrate. 

"Are you alright?" She asked as she kneeled beside him. 

"I'll be okay. I get kind of dizzy when I use kaiten," he answered with a weary croak in his voice. 

"You should drink some water," she suggested. A light flush spread on her face when she thought of a daring offer. "Y-You could have some of mine if you'd like."

"Thank you, I have some though," he said with a weak smile and unraveled the inconspicuous scroll on his left wrist. With a small puff of summoning smoke, there was a canteen in his hand. 

"That's quite a move," Mokuma chimed in as he moved closer to the two, which annoyed Yorui more than she would let on.

Nagisa looked at the scroll on his wrist after taking a sip of water. "This? I picked it up from her," he said as his eyes looked to Tenten, who was flinging a kusarigama to immobilize Kankuro's puppets. 

"Not that, you simp," Mokuma ridiculed, causing the brown haired man to frown at the jab. "I meant that kaiten move of yours."

"Oh," he uttered as he scratched his cheek sheepishly. "She kind of taught me how to do that too. I don't know how to explain it, but I'm not really supposed to know how to do it " 

Yorui was about to ask him to explain, but several explosions were heard from the field. The smoke took a minute to settle, and when it did, they saw that Karasu had been chained up and immobile. However Kankuro had summoned Kuroari to account for the loss. 

"It was the technique Chiyo-baasama used with Sakura to defeat Akasuna no Sasori. Let's use it and we'll be unbeatable!" The man in black implored.

"I'm already unbeatable!" Tenten retorted with an unamused sneer as she readied herself to make another attack. 

"Yeah right! If I beat you in this sparring match, you'll let me try it," he bargained, seemingly confident that he could pull it off. 

"Good luck with that," she scoffed. 

Yorui sighed as the twosome squared off for another round, this time with Kankuro taking the offensive. It would be over soon, she thought. Tenten might have been a formidable kunoichi, but Kankuro was lethal when on the attack. There was no way the bun-haired woman had enough weapons to keep his skill at bay. 

"It'll be over soon," Nagisa reckoned. The color was finally back in his face and there was no longer sweat dripping out from under his hitai-ate. "Senpai will have him pinned in a minute."

"You do realize who that man is, right?" Yorui said condescendingly.

"Senpai said something about him being the Kazekage's brother," he replied as though he were unimpressed. "I don't see what that has to do with his fighting ability."

"He's commander of the puppeteer brigade in our army! A general of an entire division during the war!" She reproached with much pride. Kankuro might have been a shithead, but he was her village's shithead. The unbearable heat, the cold welcoming, exhaustion from traveling, and having to listen to some pretty boy praise a woman who had zero qualms about slicing him up just minutes before were all building on top of one another.

"Well she..." He started, but trailed off as his attention was taken away by the detonation of a tag bomb. 

"She what?" Yorui mocked. 

"She's a killer," he stated matter-of-factly. Having seen her arsenal of blades, she didn't doubt it. 

"So is he," she argued back. She remembered seeing him when she was younger. She and Mokuma were walking by the depot near the Kazekage's tower where they saw Kankuro hosing out the blood that painted the inside of Kuroari. It made her stomach twist to think of what had happen in there. 

"I mean more like," he paused. "Nevermind. I suppose they have that in common."

"You're a shinobi. Are you not a killer as well?" Mokuma piped up. Yorui would've been annoyed with his eavesdropping, but found herself more curious about Nagisa's answer.

"No, I'm more of a healer," he explained. 

"I suppose that's something we have in common," she said as a small smile couldn't help but to bloom on her lips. She felt her frustration melt away at his directness.

"We're lucky," he remarked and returned the small smile that made her heart beat a little faster. However, she didn't quite believe his words. She became a healer so she could feel useful on a team, to spite her weakness when it came to combat. 

A loud growl turned their attention back to the sparring match. Tenten had managed to get close enough to Kankuro to attack him with a bo, but he had been able to grab it with two hands before it could impact him. Both of the fighters were breathing heavily with faces drenched in sweat, signifying that the conclusion was drawing near. 

"Bad move," the puppet master taunted as he pushed against her strike. "I'm stronger."

"And stupider," she spat back as pulled back on her bo, causing him to stumble forward so his chest met direct contact with her foot. 

He flew back a couple meters but still kept on his feet. He coughed once to regain his breath and reached for a scroll he kept on his backside. With a quick blood release, the familiar popping noise of a summon was heard along with the appearance of some smoke. Both Mokuma and Yorui quickly turned to look at each other when they saw what was drawn out. The notorious face of Akasuna no Sasori stood in puppet form in a trio formation with the Mother and Father puppets. 

"This could be bad," Nagisa thought out loud. Yorui was about to agree, but noticed that his focus was on Tenten, who was in the process of pulling out what looked like fan with feather-like leaves out of her back. 

"We should stop this," Mokuma said in a serious tone that did nothing to ease the anxiety that was building up inside of her. 

"No, we need to run," Nagisa countered, which made it even worse. 

A concerning amount of chakra started to radiate from Tenten's direction as Kankuro maneuvered Sasori to attack her head on with Mother and Father flanking her from either side, picking up discarded weapons along the way to use to his advantage. They moved quickly, too much so to dodge knowing Kankuro's skill as a handler. Tenten swept the fan over her shoulder, ready to strike as they neared. 

Nagisa moved in front of Yorui and Mokuma, taking the kaiten stance she recognized from the training earlier. Whatever Tenten was planning, he felt the need to protect them, but Yorui knew that Kankuro was too fast and dexterous when it came to puppet wielding. His attack was undoubtedly going to land. 

However, nothing came. Just a foot away from pinning her with her own weapons, the puppets collapsed at Tenten's feet. Yorui thought for a moment that it was a jutsu from Tenten's spike in chakra, but the tattooed woman looked at the pile of puppets with suspicion. Slowly, Yorui's eyes tracked back to Kankuro, who was lying in the grass, crumpled up on his side and breathing heavily. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My God this was such an endeavor to finish. I got through the first 2k words so quickly and the rest I was doing sentence by sentence for weeks. 
> 
> I tried really hard not to call Nagisa a simp, but I couldn't help it. 
> 
> I believe the next chapter won't be so long based on my outline, but I thought that about this chapter so who knows.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has commented, left kudos, bookmarked, and read! I wasn't really expecting any activity on this since it's such a rare pair, so I'm very happy that you are enjoying it!


	3. Stagnant Hellhole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankuro, a desert boy, passed out from heat exhaustion.

Just a small, concentrated breeze. She had gotten good enough at controlling how much chakra Bashosen would take that she was sure she could take out Kankuro and his puppets without completely destroying the surrounding area. However, proximity was a factor, and by the time they were in range, they had split off to attack her from all sides. Still, she gripped the handle of the fan, ready to jump up and back to create just a second of time and space to attack from the air. The creepy doll eyes of Akasuna no Sasori were close enough that she could see the sun reflecting off their glaze, and she took a sharp breath when she realized that the speed was greater than she had estimated. Mother and Father closed in on either side of her, and she braced herself for a bit of pain, but she stopped herself from launching back when she realized that it was needless.

Tenten heard the sound of wood clacking and she warily eyed the three puppets that had collapsed around her. She kept her defensive stance, waiting for something unexpected to try and surprise her. Seconds passed. Daring to shift her focus, she squinted to fixate on the puppeteer behind the attack. Her brown eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched as she became even more suspicious when she saw his body laying helplessly on the ground. She had only sparred with him a few times in the past, but she knew him well enough to know that his stamina matched hers and that he had better chakra control as well as reserve. Perhaps it was a bunshin or a substitute to distract her while he hid in the trees planning his real attack.

"Kankuro-dono!"

The small girl with the short silver hair he was traveling with, Yorui if she remembered correctly, rushed on to the field and knelt by his side. Tenten remained on guard and checked behind her, but detected no presence. She eased her stance some and straightened her back as Yorui rolled Kankuro onto his back. It wasn't a decoy like she had thought.

Confusion won over concern in her mind. She hadn't an idea as to why he would throw the match. Certainly he either planned to lose or changed his mind mid-battle, she pondered. There was no way a shinobi of his skill would simply keel over during a sparring match, despite the intensity.

However, something wasn't right. Kankuro hadn't so much as sat up, and Nagisa and the burly blonde guy, Mokuma, rushed to the field behind the silver haired girl. Tentatively, Tenten sealed Bashosen back into the seal on her shoulder blades, and shuffled her way over to where her opponent was being tended to.

"Tenten-san, I need your help. Will you grab a blade and cut his shirt off?" Yorui requested urgently as the weapons mistress approached the scene.

"Eh?" She was taken aback by the odd request.

"I think it's heat exhaustion, possibly going into heat stroke. Quickly!" The smaller girl barked as she removed the man's hood, revealing his brown undercut soaked in sweat.

Tenten plucked a nearby kunai out of the ground and knelt down opposite of Yorui. As she grabbed Kankuro's black top, she realized why she was tasked with cutting it open. He groaned as his whole body twitched and shivered - a steady and reactive hand was needed as to not injure him in the process. Carefully, she pulled his top taut from the top and sliced to the bottom. They hadn't needed to be fearful of injuring him, as it turned out he was wearing a layer of mesh mail beneath.

She quickly glanced away from his body as Mokuma started to pull Kankuro's arms from their long sleeves. She was used to the male figure, especially after a decade of being around green spandex jumpsuit clad men, but in her years of being acquainted with him, she had never seen the puppeteer in nothing but loose fitting black outfits. It wasn't like she had ever thought about what he looked like without clothes, but from her brief glance, her brain involuntarily noted that he was more muscular than she would have predicted and that he had a broader build than the typical Konoha man. Mentally, she chided herself for noticing at such an inappropriate time.

"Stupid Kankuro-dono," Yorui muttered, "wearing all black and multiple layers in this stupid Konoha heat. Mokuma, move him to the shade."

The muscled man gently lifted him by the pits and dragged him with ease over to the trees. The others regrouped around them.

"Aren't you all from the desert? How on earth did he get heat exhaustion?" Nagisa questioned as he took a knee.

"Suna is in the Land of Wind. We usually have a nice breeze despite the sun," Mokuma explained.

"Meanwhile, this place is a stagnant hellhole in the Land of Fire," Yorui grumbled while checking Kankuro's pulse. Tenten would have taken offense to the jab at her village, but there was no arguing that the heatwave had indeed turned Konoha into a stagnant hellhole.

"Plus, I don't think he's gotten any water since Tenten-san blasted him earlier," Mokuma said with a nod to the mentioned woman. "I'm surprised he was able to go for as long as he did."

"Do you mind using it again? The gentle stream that you let the beetles drink from," Yorui asked hastily. "Prop his head in your lap and try make him drink. The excess water will cool him down more."

Tenten felt herself hesitate for a moment. She was a far cry from what people would've called old-fashioned, but the idea of someone's head in her lap, conscious or not, was too intimate.

"I'll do it," Nagisa spoke up as he cleared his throat. He must have noticed the hesitation, and for that she was relieved.

As thankful as she was, though, she couldn't help but to think how funny it looked to see him kneel seiza-style and let Kankuro's sweaty head rest in his lap. It reminded her of a time when Lee excitedly told her that he awoke in Neji's lap when he was knocked out during a mission they were on. Neji had grumbled about it being necessary to prevent a head wound from swelling, but Lee rambled on about how he thought he was in the care of an angel.

"He's still sweating, which is a good sign. We need to get him hydrated quick though, before he runs out of fluids," Yorui said.

"I got this too," Nagisa offered just as Tenten was about to clap her hands together to activate the seal on her palm.

She felt the pangs of envy as his hands glowed green and the chakra changed to a fluid state. Not only had she shown zero talent in healing techniques when she wanted to be like Tsunade, her primary chakra nature was water, but for some reason she was unable to utilize it. Seeing the younger shinobi wield both so seamlessly felt like a double slap to the face in terms of her pride as a jonin.

Nagisa moved his glowing hands in small graceful movements over Kankuro's torso, transferring some of his water-infused chakra. His face was calm and serious in a manner that reminded her of Neji. However, rather than feeling proud and admiring of his poise, she felt salty that he was more elegant than she'd ever be.

As if the universe were rubbing it in her face, Kankuro finally began to stir. His eyes weakly flitted open and he uttered, "Mom?"

"I am not your mother," Nagisa deadpanned, causing Mokuma and Yorui to start laughing.

Their demeanors relaxed as they chuckled, Nagisa even smiled at their amusement, but Tenten looked down to her hands in her lap. She knew from Temari's perspective that "mom" was a rough subject for her and her brothers. Not to mention, she could also add her male kohai to the long list of people closer to embodying the female ideal than she was.

"What happened?" Kankuro grunted as he tried to sit up, but ended up rolling over to his side in distress. Nagisa looked relieved to have the man's head out of his lap, and tried to pat away some of the sweat that had soaked through his pants.

"You passed out from heat exhaustion," Yorui said while she steadied him and took his pulse again now that he was awake.

"Fucking Konoha," he cursed, causing both Tenten and Nagisa to frown.

"That's on you," Mokuma corrected. "You hardly drank anything on our way here."

Kankuro grunted as he made another attempt to sit up. He got his upper body up, but immediately had to catch his head from falling between his knees.

"You really should just sit and rest for a bit. Nagisa-san was thankfully skilled enough to get you hydrated quickly. We'll wait with you," Yorui said.

He glanced at Nagisa and gave an acknowledging nod. "Thanks," he uttered.

"You're welcome, son," Nagisa replied, which earned a howling laugh from Mokuma.

"This guy!" The burly blonde cried. "He's actually pretty funny!"

"This is all your fault," Kankuro grumbled as he looked up at Tenten. "Calling me 'tawagoto.'"

Tenten sighed and looked at her weapon collection scattered all around the field, and then back to the people around her. All of them were flushed with a decent slick of sweat coating their faces. They didn't have to complain for her to know that they were eager to get out of the heat. 

"Nagisa," she spoke, getting their attention, "you know where the Nara compound is. Do you mind showing our visitors the way? I'll stay here with Kankuro while he regains his energy."

"Sure, of course," Nagisa agreed dutifully after a brief pause. He stood up swiftly like a soldier given a task. 

"A-Are you sure?" Yorui asked a bit nervously as she glanced between Tenten and Nagisa. 

"It'll be fine," Kankuro assured in a groggy voice. "I won't be too far behind you."

Mokuma and Yorui nodded in compliance, and stood up to gather their bags. Tenten felt a bit guilty for sending them away, but she knew she owed Kankuro an apology and wasn't willing to do it in front of everyone else. She drew a deep breath and formed a hand seal that made all of the weapons on field retreat back into their seals in a widespread poof of smoke. She looked at Kankuro, who was resting his elbows on his knees with his his eyes closed. His breathing was still a bit heavy, but the color was returning to his skin.

"Ok, we're off," Mokuma announced. "We'll see you soon, Kankuro-dono."

They turned to leave, but Tenten stood up and called out for Nagisa to wait. He stopped and faced her attentively. 

"I'm sorry," she said as she walked up to him, "for pushing you too hard today."

The younger shinobi flushed and turned his head to the side as if to hide it.

"Don-Don't underestimate me, senpai," he fumbled in a way that reminded her of a 16-year-old Neji. It was cute enough for her to manage a fond smile. Kankuro's interference had made her worry that maybe she had gone too far, but she was relieved to know that she could trust her gut about the resilience of a member of the Hyuuga clan. 

"Okay, okay," she said lightly. "I'll push you just as hard next time."

"Next time," he repeated as his flush deepened. 

She let out a sigh after he turned around to meet back up with Yorui and Mokuma. Her brain berated her for taking it upon herself to train him. Gai would convince Kakashi to assign her a genin squad if word got around.

She walked back to where Kankuro was sitting in the shade and sat a few feet away from him without saying anything. She summoned one of her tri-tipped kunai along with a whetstone and began sharpening the main blade.

She wasn't sure how many minutes of silence passed between them. He continued to work on steadying his breathing and eventually leaned back on his hands, opening up his chest for deeper breaths. Her eyes subtly glanced over him again. Most of his face paint had melted off, save for some thin and cracked stripes near his jaw and hairline, letting her see his facial features unmasked. He seemed so different that the men she was used to seeing. His eyes were small and wild that unsettled her in a way. He had a larger nose that balanced his face out well with a wider mouth and square jawline. His brown hair was shaved short around his head, but left a little longer and messier on top. She did her best to push it away, but the thought that she'd find him attractive if she didn't know him slipped in anyway.

The silence between them continued after she shook off her weird thoughts. She knew she should say something, seeing that he was someone she had trained with before and knew as well as one could considering he usually only came around once, maybe twice a year. An apology was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't want to make any excuses for herself and found it hard to find the right words. 

She went to go steal another look at him, but felt her heart stop for a moment when she met his stare instead. He didn't look away, and she felt the absolute need to say anything, as if she had been the one caught.

"Were you seriously going to use Sasori against me?" She asked quickly.

"Were you seriously going to use Bashosen on me?" He shot back.

She held his unreadable stare for a moment when the ridiculousness of their sparring match hit her. A smile wormed its way on to her lips and a small chuckle escaped that slowly turned into full nose and eye-crinkling laughter. Kankuro laughed with her, or maybe at her, but it didn't matter.

"Kami-sama," she exhaled once she started to regain herself.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, finally feeling more relaxed from the laughter. "I was in kind of a weird mood today."

"It's fine," he said.

"No, it's not. I'm not usually so reckless and bitchy," she explained and fought the urge to sigh again.

"You are usually more upbeat, but I've always liked a woman with more bite to her," he said with casual playfulness, causing Tenten to comically scowl at him in offense. She might have thought he was good-looking just moments before, but she was not one to buy into careless flirty comments.

"Okay, don't look at me like that," he relented. "Is something going on?"

"You don't want to listen to my woman problems," she said as relaxed her face and shook her head.

"Ohhh, that monthly stuff. Gotcha," he responded with an awkward tight-lipped smirk.

"Not that," she quickly snapped with a light flush, though it was her own fault for wording it like that. "It's something dumb."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her to let her know she could continue if she wanted. Tenten let out a groan and let her chin fall to be supported by her palm.

"It's just that all my girl friends are married and getting pregnant, and here I am: single and nowhere near starting a family. I don't even know if I want that," she confessed.

She looked over at Kankuro, who was silent with a weird wide-eyed look on his face. She was worried for a moment that it might have been too much information.

"My sister," he started and then paused to frown. "Is Temari pregnant?"

"Oh, no. She isn't," Tenten answered. She chose to leave out saying, ' _not yet_.'

He sighed with relief and looked up at the tree branches above them. His reaction left her wondering why he wouldn't be excited to be an uncle, unless maybe he was in a similar mindset as her. Perhaps she did say too much.

"Kids suck. They're the worst," he grunted. "You're doing the world a service by not having them."

She let out a small laugh through her nose. Earlier, she would have been offended by his words, but realized that it was probably his version of saying something comforting. She happened to think she would be a decent mother and be able to raise a child or two alright, but she was very aware that a lot could go wrong between thinking about kids and actually having them. 

"And if you decide that you do want that hellish married-with-kids life," he said and looked her over for a moment, making her heart beat a little faster, "I'm sure that Hyuuga kid would take you up on that."

She actually laughed out loud, trying to mask the blush that threatened to take over her face. She supposed he said some truth, but it was embarrassing to think about.

"I don't know how well that would work out. Apparently he's more motherly than I am," she teased.

"Hey," he retorted and threw some grass at her. He was obviously feeling recovered.

She giggled at his childish attack and retaliated with a clump of dirt and grass.

"You're really trying to start another sparring match with me?" He joked as he brushed the dirt off his upper arm.

"Maybe," she said coyly. She thought about throwing another dirt ball at him, but decided to lean back on her hands instead.

"Geez, I'm way too much of a kid to have kids. How on earth is everybody so far ahead of me?" She mused.

"Not everybody," he assured her. "If your Lee friend starts having kids, that's when you need to start worrying."

She laughed again for having a similar thought earlier in the day. It would be something short of miraculous if Lee found someone who could sync with energy and lifestyle well enough to settle down. Kankuro was right, she had nothing to worry about.

They continued to chat about their friends, new techniques, and poisons from Kirigakure. The sun was moving closer to the west, though they didn't get much relief from the heat. Tenten didn't mind, though she had a feeling she might have a slight sunburn on her shoulders the next day. It was refreshing to not have to hold back when rambling on about niche weapon specs, and to listen to someone who was as fervent in their specialty as she was. Their reputations as deadly soldiers made most people view them as dedicated authorities in their craft, but their close friends just called them nerds. 

He was making a passionate argument to let him use the human puppet technique on her, when she noticed a figure approaching them. As they came closer, she realized it was Temari, who looked noticeably pissed in her angry swagger. Tenten and Kankuro grimaced at each other, knowing that a good scolding was on its way.

"Honestly, what the hell?" The blonde woman chided upon reaching them. "I've been waiting around for you to show up all day, and then some random kids show up at my house saying that they're with you, but you were passed out in a field somewhere!"

"Sorry, I'm fine now," Kankuro apologized as he winced away from her voice.

"I can see that," Temari scoffed with her arms crossed.

"And you," she said turning to Tenten, "You knew he was supposed to come to my place."

"I know, I'm sorry," the weapons mistress grumbled as Kankuro snickered at her getting a lecture as well.

"Well come on, Kankuro. We're having dinner soon," Temari said with a huff. "Tenten, we'll see you at the meeting tomorrow."

The siblings were on their way home, and Kankuro turned his head over his shoulder and gave her a wave. She waved back with a small smile, feeling a little lighter than when the day began. 

-

After they left, Tenten found her top laying in the middle of the training grounds and slipped it on over her head. There were a few tears from her failure to put it off to the side, but nothing a few quick stitches couldn't fix when she got home.

As she walked through the streets to get to her apartment building, she thought about the rather eventful day. Sunday brunch was about as social as she got on her weekends at home, and yet for some reason, she found her day packed with interactions. It was exhausting, but she was glad it played out the way it did. Training with Nagisa brought back many fond memories of her genin days. She only wished Neji could have been around to give them both some pointers. 

The true highlight was getting to spar with someone all out without holding back or worrying about injuries. Kankuro was a weapons master in his own right. His style was the perfect balance of similar yet different in comparison to her own. When they were younger, he had criticized her chakra strings until she improved her use of them, and in return she had let him study her control over the many different weapons in her arsenal. He didn't mention how long he'd be in town for, but she hoped to have a more proper match before he left, and maybe more.

She tried to shake off the last bit of that thought. She didn't have any solid requirements or restrictions when it came to going on dates and fooling around, but she avoided people she already knew. She had somehow became known as the girl who didn't really care about flirting or boyfriends, so it was difficult and awkward to explore that side of herself around anyone who believed she was above it. It was much easier out of the village where most assumed she was simply a pretty girl.

Kankuro might have looked good to her in the moment, but she reasoned with herself that it was just post-fight adrenaline mixed with a good dose of haven't-gotten-laid-in-months syndrome. He was mildly flirtatious a few times, but the casual execution was a sign that he most likely spoke to many women in the same manner, and a reminder that she probably wasn't that special. However, she enjoyed talking to him. It was relieving to know that there were others her age not so focused on domestication. Some people just weren't cut out for such a life, and perhaps she was one of them.

She made the turn down her street and eyed her apartment building in the near distance. It was a quaint two-story structure surrounded by small businesses. As she neared, a bright green figure on the balcony outside of her unit caught her immediate attention. She chuckled to herself as if the universe was playing some kind of joke on her by cramming a week's worth of socializing into one day.

"Lee?" She called up as she got to the stairs leading up to the second floor. She wondered how long he had been waiting there.

"Hey, Tenten," he greeted with a smile and wave.

"What's up?" She asked, wary that he wasn't as energetic as usual. She made her way up the stairs and noticed that he looked tired. A concerned frown formed on her face. Lee always looked vibrant and vivacious, so something was certainly weighing him down.

"I," he hesitated for a moment, "need some advice. Or just someone to talk to. Do you mind if I come in?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be short - under 2000 words. I struggle with balancing dialogue with descriptions. I would just do a screenplay if I could get away with it. I am shocked I made it to the third chapter. I started another Kankuro/Tenten WIP while writing this. It is nothing but AU smut because I am impatient and I like to torture myself. I am going to try and finish that before I finish chapter 4 of this fic. Thank you everybody who has read this far. Your comments and kudos are what keep me going.


End file.
